3)Man Singh Palace.

Man Singh Palace or Man Mandir Palace lies to the right of Hathi Pol Gate. It was built by the king of Tomar Dynasty – Maharaja Man Singh in the 15th century.

When you go inside this palace you will see many places of that time like;

1. Music Room.

• In this room, there was music playing for King Mansingh’s eight queens. Out of his nine queens, eight lived in this palace, while the ninth lived below the fort (Gujari Fort).Musicians who sat on ground while the queens sat behind the lattice screens. The queens would watch the musicians, but the musicians would not look at the queens, as it was the time of Indian and Rajput tradition.
• Inside the lattice screens, there are also dance figures carved, all  500 years old when this palace was built.

2. Diwan-e-Khas.

• This was the king’s audience hall, known as the Diwan-e-Khas. The balcony above was for the king’s seating, while all the king’s queens sat behind the lattices. When guests arrived, a balcony was made for them, while ministers sat on the lower floor and conversed with each other.

In this courtyard, there are symbols related to the king, such as 

1. Peacocks were carved inside the palace because whenever there was a joyous occasion, peacocks were used as decorations on flags.

2. Also, you can see mixed animal figures here, with the head of an elephant, the neck of a lion, the torso of a horse, and the legs of a tiger. Each animal represents a symbol; the tiger symbolizes activeness, the horse symbolizes energy, the lion symbolizes courage, and the elephant symbolizes power. So, for any task, you need energy, courage, and power for it to be completed successfully.

• This was the symbol of the Rajputs for fighting, which was previously imprinted on flags. The flag used to be on a 50-meter pole during the king’s time, and the Rajput crown would be imprinted on the head of the flag.

3. Prayer Room.

• On its pillars, you’ll see stands with the ‘Om’ symbol, and on top, there are leaves of Tulsi (holy basil). The three doors here have lotus flowers on them, representing the seat of Goddess Mahalakshmi and symbolizing prosperity.
• Upon entering, you’ll see a total of 33 windows, representing the importance of 33 deities. Among these, eight are Vasus, eleven are Rudras, twelve are Adityas, the 32nd is Indra, and the 33rd is Prajapati. At that time, there used to be idols here.
• On the walls here, the design you see resembling flowers was actually made of diamonds at that time. But when Ibrahim Lodi attacked this fortress in 1523, he took out all the diamonds from here.
• Behind these windows, you see a gallery, which was used for parikrama at that time.

4. Dancing Hall.

• This is the second courtyard and it is used to be the king’s open dancing hall.
• If you look around, you’ll see Chinese dragons decorating this space. The reason behind this is that when Chinese traders used to pass through here with their caravans, bringing Chinese influences to this courtyard. Hence, you see elements like the dragons and even the roof reflects Chinese style.

Currently, in this fort there are 3 floors which  are undergrounded so let’s see what is there ..

5. First Floor.

• This is the first floor of the underground. This room used to be for King Mansingh’s eight queens, a swing house during summer time. Then this place was taken over by the Mughals between the 16th and 17th centuries. Later, these same chambers were converted into a execution site. Aurangzeb imprisoned his two brothers here, Murad Bakhsh and Darashikoh.

2 Features in whole palace.

1. Old communication system.

• In reality, this was a 550-year-old communication system, which was used like a telephone in that era. You’ll see it in every chamber built here, and through this, conversations were conducted between one room and another.

2. Ventilation system.

• These were made in this palace for cross ventilation, allowing fresh air and light to enter inside.

6. Second Floor.

• This is the second floor of the underground, which was a waiting room for King Mansingh’s eight queens.
• In this room, a small door was used for cutting and bowing the head.

7. Third Floor.

• This is the third floor of the underground. Here, you can see a small tank, which during the king’s time was quite large. All the pillars were underwater. It was about 10 feet deep and 10 feet wide, where the king’s eight queens used to swim comfortably by adding saffron to the water.
• Then, after the king’s death, when the queens saw that the king had passed away, they emptied the tank and set it on fire using sandalwood. After igniting the fire, eight queens jumped into the flames, which we call “jauhar”.
• During the British rule, they reduced its size, and the Indian government put a net over it to prevent any tourists from falling inside.